Edward Dufresne, 72, and pilot Mitchell Morgan, 49, were both from Murrieta.
Witnesses reported hearing an explosion before pieces of their 1975 twin-engine Cessna fell out of the sky. The plane crashed into a field near Derby, about 20 miles away from Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport.
Dufresne ran the World Harvest Church in Murrieta, but he spent much of his time as a traveling faith healer.
"He was a very honorable person, and one thing that I appreciated, he was a very loving individual to me in particular. I don't know how he was with other people, but he was kind of a father figure," said Pastor Jim Ames, a friend of Dufresne.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane was bound for Texas. Dufresne was due to give a talk at a church there.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
